"Fina, are you certain the third Quintal Trial will take place in Tsuchi?"
The shepherd's question turned the whole library silent.
Anything about the Quintal Trial would quiet a person, even if only for a moment.
"Nobody knows for certain what's going to happen on the fifteenth floor, Jonah. But it is a fact that the eleventh and the twelfth floor took place around the city's outskirts."
I said to him.
I went on.
"And after hearing the name, I recognized the soldiers bearing the Jherendal's insignia on their armors and cape. I know because I've been to the city before."
"Do you have any idea what happened to Tsuchi in the past, Serafina?"
Zecht asked.
That was a good question.
I knew Loro fell in a monster invasion fifteen years ago, in the actual history of Dunia. The second Quintal Trial took place then.
It would be safe to assume the third Quintal Trial would also take place in Tsuchi during similar dire event as well.
However…
"All of us here have understood that our world, Dunia, has ended upon our arrival to the forged land."
I said to them.
The raid team and the chiefs had learned that much of the true history.
It could not be helped with the promotion most of the raid team members had seen. And the chiefs interacted with the raid team a lot for them to inevitably learn about the horrid truths.
I went on.
"The thing is, Tsuchi only experienced devastation right near the end of Dunia."
It was about three months before I departed to Damai to help my father and brothers.
The human blockade around the ancient ruin in Khandera collapsed and monsters quickly overran the entire region, including Tsuchi.
I read reports of the monsters invading Khandera at the time.
Beasts which could take on a thousand knights alone.
Surely the fifteenth floor would not have us defend the city against such monsters.
Would it?
It could not have to be the case! Certainly!
At least not this early in the climb.
"If the third Quintal Trial takes place during the fall of Tsuchi, I really doubt we'll be able to survive the trial. Let alone complete the mission tasked to us."
I said to the raid team in heavy tone.
Their expressions turned grim.
Tarran suddenly raised his hand.
"But maybe the fifteenth floor won't take place that far into the future. Wouldn't it be possible the trial happens earlier in the timeline?"
Trudy nodded to the boy.
"In the Exploration Dungeon, it had only been a month since the event of the tenth floor. Perhaps the fifteenth floor would take place sometime around then."
It was a good observation.
I had assumed the Quintal Trials would affect the event progressions in the Exploration Dungeon.
It would not make sense if the fifteenth floor jumped ahead right to the end of the world. What would happen to the Exploration Dungeon by then?
What Trudy said would be the most logical case.
I had considered it.
Even so…
"Nothing notable happened to Tsuchi around the time when Loro fell. The entire Khandera region was actually quite untouched until the last few years of Dunia."
"You're knowledgeable in history, Serafina. Don't you know anything else that happened around then? It could be our clue."
Shanny asked.
I shook my head.
"The Great Katcha Lake and its surroundings were relatively peaceful after Loro and the eastern border cities were invaded. Several villages and towns along the border of Phirdaus Forest did get raided by monsters around this time. But those regions are almost in the other part of the world from Tsuchi."
The raid team was turned into a confusion upon my statement.
Because of that, I moved the discussion along.
"As of now, we have nothing in the historical record that could foretell us what's going to happen on the fifteenth floor. But it is almost certain that the third Quintal Trial would take place in Tsuchi."
I continued.
"Something is going to happen to Tsuchi and we'll have to be ready for whatever it will be. The first step in our preparation would be to learn what we can of the city."
I turned to the maps hovering in front of the meeting participants.
I explained to them in general of the city's layout and an overview of the terrains in Khandera region.
I also briefly went over of Tsuchi's background as a port city, the Jherendal's influence and its forces, as well as what could be expected of Tsuchi's citizens.
At the end of my explanation, members of the raid team let out tired sighs.
"Arian's right. That city is so damn huge!"
Shanny commented with a click of her tongue.
Devisha shared her frustration.
"Five layered city. Eight giant gates on the outermost walls, with twelve smaller ones scattered about. Compact districts arranged with labyrinth-like streets. The city itself is located on a hilly terrain, making roads extending not just left and right, but up and down as well."
"It would be difficult to defend the city. Much harder than Loro if the fifteenth floor's mission is the same as the tenth's."
Zecht added. He let out another sigh as well.
Norn gasped at her party leader's words.
"Dear Goddesses! There's no way only three parties will participate in this Quintal Trial, right? Fifteen people could barely defend a small city like Loro!"
"In that case, how many party should be needed for a city as large as this?"
Matrias asked.
Yuxia began running the numbers in his head.
"Assuming the mission will be the same as the tenth floor's, the innermost walls only have five gates. So maybe five parties would be enough? But I wouldn't be surprised if ten is required."
I turned to the combat instructor sitting in the room with us.
"Assuming we need ten parties for the fifteenth floor, do you think we'll have enough heroes for the climb?"
"How much time do we have left to prepare?"
Trudy asked me back. Warily.
"We just cleared the twelfth floor today. So we might only have three weeks left before the raid team are deployed to the third Quintal Trial."
I replied her.
The statement of the timeline invited soft nervous murmurs across the library.
Trudy formed a frown upon my reply.
"So far master has invited twelve of my first floor trainees to live on the second floor of the lobby. Five of them are originally 2-stars at summoning. The rest are 1-stars who are currently waiting for promotion.
"I've seen them all fought on the eighth and the ninth floor trials. I can vouch for their skills. Arian have trained with some of them too. You can definitely rely on them to fight alongside the members of the raid team."
The combat instructor said convincingly.
Twelve trainees. We could immediately form a new Party 3 and recover our losses from the tenth floor.
Trudy had done well raising more capable heroes for the raid team.
Even so, I let out a sigh at her report.
"That is just enough heroes to complement our ranks up to Party 5. And I already included Arian, Matrias, and Vallerynne."
Trudy nodded to me with a serious gaze.
"I'll work hard to develop twenty-five more heroes for the raid team before the fifteenth floor climb. Master has summoned more people after Serize recruited some of the first floor trainees for the additional gatherer parties. There are more than enough heroes for me to work on."
With the matter of manpower settled, I turned to the chief gatherer and the chief crafter beside the combat instructor.
"Ten parties. Many elemental stones would be needed for the heroes' promotions. Not to mention we would need to supply each party with more than sufficient amount of health potions and enchanted weapons."
The two chiefs glanced each other with worried eyes.
"With only three weeks, my crafters would have to work really hard. Working long hours without much rest. That is assuming we'd have enough materials to make all the necessary equipment."
Gerrits said.
Serize immediately bowed to me.
"Despite my previous report, I promise that the gatherers will make sure the entire lobby is well-supplied during the third Quintal Trial preparation. Thanks to my lady's instructions, the gatherers now have more help in the Weekday Dungeons. You won't have to worry about resources anymore, Lady Zeref."
With their commitments sounded, I turned back to the members of the raid team.
"Starting today, we'll all reconvene every night and study Tsuchi's terrain and its surroundings, the possible stage of our third Quintal Trial. We'll discuss for every possible scenario and strategize for them. The raid team will come up with detailed plans to tackle any eventuality of the fifteenth floor."
I walked closer to my comrades of the raid team and looked at each of them straight in the eye.
"We don't know what will happen in the third Quintal Trial. But we WILL be ready!"